"A suicide bomber struck in the Afghan capital early Monday morning, targeting a bus full of foreign security contractors. At least 14 people were killed and eight others wounded, said Sediq Seddiqi, spokesman for Afghanistan's Interior Ministry. The majority of the victims were citizens of Nepal, he added. ... The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message sent to media organizations." (06/20/16)

"NATO allies will likely agree next month to extend the Afghanistan training mission and keep troops in all four sections of the country next year, a senior NATO diplomat said Wednesday, leaving the door open for the U.S. to maintain current troops levels if the Obama administration decides it's necessary. Under current plans, the U.S. will cut its troop numbers from 9,800 to 5,500 by the end of 2016. But in the face of a resurgent Taliban, former commanders have urged President Barack Obama to keep 9,800 there into next year." (06/15/16)

"Afghan and Pakistani forces clashed in an escalation of tensions between the neighbouring countries, killing at least three people and forcing the closure of the main border crossing, officials said Tuesday. The fighting erupted along the Torkham border on Sunday night and continued erratically over the next two days, apparently after Afghan forces objected to the construction of a gate on the Pakistani side." (06/14/16)

"The Afghan Taliban confirmed on Wednesday that their leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a U.S. drone strike last week and that they have appointed a successor -- a scholar known for extremist views who is unlikely to back a peace process with Kabul. The announcement came as a suicide bomber struck a minibus carrying court employees in the Afghan capital, killing at least 11 people, an official said. The Taliban promptly claimed responsibility for the attack." (05/25/16)

"After all these months of investigation, CENTCOM concluded 'this tragic incident was caused by a combination of human errors, compounded by process and equipment failures.' This is the same thing the Pentagon said after their initial investigation in November. And nearly seven months after the attack on the hospital in Kunduz, the official narrative still 'rests on the idea that the attacking warplane had taken off without [access to] a no-strike list, then had to dodge a non-existent missile, never corrected its targeting systems, and when ordered to attack a target at empty coordinates, chose to attack the 'closest large building' even though it was out of view of the troops who claimed to be under attack.'" [text, Flash audio or MP3] (05/01/16)

"Ever since the U.S. last October bombed a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Kunduz, Afghanistan, the U.S. vehemently denied guilt while acting exactly like a guilty party would. First, it changed its story repeatedly. Then, it blocked every effort -- including repeated demands from MSF -- to have an independent investigation determine what really happened. ... the U.S. military is about to release a report that, so predictably, exonerates itself from all guilt; it was, of course, all just a terribly tragic mistake." (04/39/16)

"At least seven people were killed and more than 300 people were injured after an explosion rocked Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday morning, according to the country's health ministry. A suicide car bomber caused the explosion, said Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi. The attack targeted the office of a security team that works to protect the government's VIPs, an Afghan police official said. The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the group said in a statement." (04/19/16)

"An increasing number of Afghan civilians are killed and injured at the hands of government forces fighting extremist groups, according to the UN. A report released on Sunday, documenting the first three months of 2016, shows a 70% rise in civilian casualties caused by pro-government forces, with 127 killed and 242 wounded. A total of 600 civilians were killed and 1,343 injured during that period, a 2% increase in total casualties but a 13% drop in fatalities. A growing proportion of those civilians are women and children. This year, one-third of civilian casualties have been children, a 29% jump from last year." (04/17/16)

"As many as eight police official[s] were Thursday killed when a group of armed people attacked police convoy in Afghanistan’s Takhar province. ... None of the insurgent groups, including those associated with Taliban, have claimed responsibility for the attack." (04/14/16)

"A suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed at least six civilians and wounded 22 on today when he detonated near a clinic and a school during a police chase in eastern Afghanistan, officials said. The incident occurred in Parwan province, northwest of capital Kabul, provincial police chief for Parwan Mohammad Zaman Mamozai told AFP. 'We had been tipped off he was coming, he intended to target a police base, but when he found himself being chased by police, he detonated himself in an area close to a school and clinic,' Mamozai said." (04/05/16)

"The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for firing three rockets at the country's parliamentary compound Monday. Lawmakers said no one was injured and there was only minor damage from the rockets, which struck around the time top law enforcement officials were giving a security briefing to politicians." (03/28/16)

"A senior American general has proposed resuming offensive strikes against the Taliban, exposing a rift between the military and senior administration officials over the U.S. role in the war in Afghanistan, according to military officials. Senior Pentagon officials complained that Gen. John F. Campbell, who commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan until earlier this month, broke with standard military procedure when he forwarded his proposal in recent weeks directly to the White House without the backing of Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter. Campbell said he followed normal procedures in submitting his recommendations, which could draw the United States back into a broader air campaign against the Taliban." (03/14/16)

"In the fourth attack since 2007, heavily-armed terrorists, including suicide bombers, today struck the Indian Consulate in Afghanistan's Jalalabad city, killing nine persons including an Afghan security personnel and causing damage to the chancery. External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi said all Indians in the mission were safe and six terrorists, who carried out the attack, were dead. While two terrorists blew themselves up, four militants were killed by the Afghan National Police." (03/02/16)

"A suicide bomber targeting a police commander killed at least 13 people on Monday, including nine civilians, in Afghanistan's northern Parwan province, an official said. The attack happened near a clinic and a bazaar, said Gen Zaman Mamozai, the provincial police chief. Four local police were among those killed, and another 19 people, including 17 civilians, were wounded, he said." (02/22/16)

"Jeb Bush says that his brother 'kept us safe.' Trump, on the other hand, points out the obvious: that the 9/11 attacks, which occurred when George W. was president, was not exactly 'keeping us safe.' But what Jeb is obviously referring to is 7-year aftermath of the 9/11 attacks while his brother was president. Since there were no further 9/11s, Jeb is suggesting, that shows that his brother W. 'kept us safe.' What Trump has failed to point out and what Jeb fails to recognize, however, is that Bush's decisions to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, along with his much-vaunted 'war on terrorism,' actually made America much less safe, owing to the never-ending threat of terrorist retaliation arising from the anger and rage those invasions produced, along with their subsequent long-term occupations." (02/16/16)

"A rogue Afghan policeman drugged his colleagues before shooting five of them dead, officials said Thursday, the latest in a series of 'insider attacks' which have blighted pro-government forces battling the Taliban. The incident took place Wednesday night at a checkpoint where 13 policemen were posted in southern Kandahar province, scene of some of the heaviest fighting between the Western-backed government and the Taliban in recent years. The attacker was later shot dead by police from a nearby checkpoint who approached after hearing the firing." (02/11/16)

"At least three people were killed and 14 wounded on Monday when a suicide bomber attacked a bus filled with Afghan army personnel in northern Afghanistan, officials said. The blast occurred just before 8 a.m. in Dehdadi district, not far from the Balkh provincial capital of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to a statement by the Ministry of Defense. ... The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement released online." (02/08/16)

"A Taliban suicide bomber struck a police base in central Kabul Monday, killing at least nine people just days before a fresh round of international talks aimed at reviving dialogue with the Islamist group. Scores of people were also wounded in the bombing at the entrance of the base, which left several bodies and charred debris strewn around the area. The attack comes amid the Taliban's unprecedented winter offensive despite a renewed push to restart formal peace talks." (02/01/16)

"A bomb targeting TV station workers in the Afghan capital killed at least seven people and wounded more than two dozen others Wednesday, officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast near the Russian embassy, though the Taliban has previously threatened journalists from Tolo TV, the target of the attack. Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told NBC News a bomber in a Toyota targeted a minibus carrying employees of a Tolo-owned production company." (01/20/16)

"The Afghan military sustained twice as many losses in the last year as U.S. forces killed in the entire 13 years of war in Afghanistan. And the pace of casualties is escalating, suggesting that the Taliban is stronger than the Pentagon and mainstream media have ever let on -- in fact, the country is a house of cards experts say is destined to fall. Just this week, the Associated Press reported that upwards of 40 percent of Afghan security forces are 'ghosts' -- soldiers and police who exist on the books but are otherwise nowhere to be found. With current maps showing the Taliban holding more territory than at any time since 2001, and ISIS moving in to make a play for their turf, confidence that a 'national' army can defend Afghanistan on its own is at an all-time low." (01/20/16)

"A suicide bombing at the guest house of a local official has left at least 13 people dead in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. The late Sunday morning attack saw the attacker detonate his explosives inside a compound belonging to Obaidullah Shinwari, a member of Nangarhar's provincial council. The attack marks the second bombing in Jalalabad in less than a week. As with last week's attack, the Taliban denied any role in Sunday's bombing." (01/17/16)

"Seven members of the Afghan security forces were killed Wednesday after unidentified gunmen attacked the Pakistani consulate in a volatile eastern province, an official said on Wednesday. Attaullah Khyogani, spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, said another seven security forces personnel were injured in during the attack, which began when a suicide bomber detonated explosives outside the consulate in the provincial capital Jalalabad. ... According to the French news agency AFP, ISIS claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack." (01/13/16)

"One U.S. soldier was killed and two wounded during a joint U.S.-Afghan Special Operations mission in Marjah, Afghanistan, Tuesday, with fighting still continuing, the Pentagon announced. A U.S. official told CNN that a quick reaction force has been launched in an effort to rescue those forces on the ground in Marjah. The official could not say where the force was launched from or how many people were involved." (01/05/16)

"Six American service members were killed Monday in a suicide bombing during a patrol outside a U.S. base north of Kabul, in the largest U.S. loss of life from an attack this year, according to a senior Defense official. The patrol of U.S. troops was targeted by a motorcyclist carrying a bomb. In addition to the servicemembers killed, three were injured, according to NATO command headquarters in Afghanistan. The attack occurred outside a sprawling U.S. airbase in Bagram, located 34 miles north of Kabul. The senior Defense official who confirmed that all six dead were Americans was not authorized to speak publicly." (12/21/15)

"Afghan security forces on Wednesday battled Taliban militants who stormed the airport complex in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar in an attack that killed 37 civilians, officials said. The attack began when more than a dozen assailants, reportedly wearing the uniforms of Afghan security forces, stormed the complex Tuesday evening. The airport serves as a base for U.S. forces and CIA operations in southern Afghanistan, and is also used by Afghan forces." (12/09/15)